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1968 Map of Middle Dry Fork

Name: 1968 Topographic Map of Middle Dry Fork
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1971
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1971

About this map

Kimball Mountain and the high plateaus of the Western Slope dominate this 1968 field-checked survey of Garfield County. The landscape is defined by the steep drainage systems of North Fork Dry Fork and Middle Fork Dry Fork, which carve deep canyons between Cow Ridge and Horse Mountain. Human presence in this high-elevation terrain is marked by utility and resource extraction, including a Prospect and the remnants of localized industry near Sawmill Gulch.

Water sources are vital and frequently named across the arid topography, including Blaze Spring, East Wiley Spring, and Kimball Creek. Navigation through the vertical relief is limited to a primitive network of pack trails and jeep trails, reflecting the area's use for ranching, hunting, or early energy exploration during the late 1960s. The naming conventions, such as Myser Gulch and McKay Spring, likely preserve the identity of early local stockmen and homesteaders who navigated these ridges.